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Freedom from pain in the body and from trouble in the mind is the goal of a happy life. This was the teaching of the Greek philosopher Epicurus, who lived from 341 to 270 BC. To many people Epicureanism has often meant a simple devotion to pleasure, comfort, and high living with little thought for the consequences. But the ideas of Epicurus were far more complex. In his lifetime, and for centuries afterward, he was considered a moral reformer.